Rant against the St. Louis Police

I am NOT happy at the moment.

This is really a shame, considering the day was wonderful, on the whole. A group of us went to the City Museum... an AMAZING playground for kids and adults. I LOVED it. Then we went to Schlafley (sp?) Brewery. Then I had a great dinner with Nathan and Amanda Brown, who were passing through. However... during the trip from the Museum to Trader Joe's/our apartment, I got pulled over. Shocking you say? Yes.... since I drive like a grandma.. it is shocking that I would get pulled over.

This was my first time getting pulled over, except when Jeff's headlight was out and I was driving his car (but that doesn't count). This time, It was NOT for speeding. I had "blocked the fire station entrance". Here in St. Louis, they have these emergency stop lights by the fire dpt, which only turn red when there is an emergency. There was another light a bit in front of it, which was also green... so I kept following traffic, which was busy and stopped moving as I was about halfway through the emergency light. It was about 15-20 seconds before we moved again... just enough time for me to look over, see the fire station, and think... "hm.. I wonder what would happen if there was an emergency which traffic was stopped like this". This officer did NOT have to give me a ticket. I, being unfamiliar with the area and these emergency lights had no idea that traffic would stop, or that it was illegal. I figured it was like those signs with lights that say "follow such and such rule when light is blinking". Crap.

The thing that really stinks is that the ticket is $76. He should have given me a warning. Honestly, I 'm happy he pulled me over, since it answered my question of "What would happen if there was an emergency". Since the point of pulling people over is to keep the roads safe, I simply needed to learn this information and I can refrain from doing it again. It was obvious by my SD license and license plates that I was an out-of-towner. I have a clean record, and was NOT speeding, so this wasn't an impatient or malicious decision to block the fire dpt.

Tomorrow afternoon I am going to go contest this ticket. It is a ridiculous ploy to get money for this dying city.

Ok... I'm going to get over this, stop being cranky, and get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, relatively free AND I can finally start watching season 3 of LOST... I'm hooked.